TROPICAL RAINFORESTS: Human Inhabitants

Amazonian Tri-Country Indigenous Summit

In early September 1997, Indigenous leaders from Brazil, Guyana, and Venezuela met to demand the formal demarcation of their lands, demand the expulsion of "squatters" who illegally use their lands for mining, and express their concern over planned cross-border development projects. At the Amazonian Tri-Country Indigenous Summit, members from the Roraima Indigenous Council (CIR), the National Indigenous Council of Venezuela (CONIVE), and the AmerIndian Peoples of Guyana (APA) met to discuss their role in the development of the northern Amazon rainforest of Guyana, Southern Venezuela, and northern Brazil.

Indigenous groups want land demarcation so it will be more difficult for the government to grant timber and mining concessions on lands they traditionally use for hunting, fishing, and collecting rainforest products. Recently, the governments of all three countries have granted huge logging concessions to Asian timber firms on lands traditionally used by Indigenous groups.

The leaders of the conference made it clear that while do not necessarily dismiss new development in the region, they want careful social and environmental impact studies before projects proceed. More importantly, the groups want a larger role in the decision making process on these projects which will directly affect them. At the 5-day meeting, representatives expressed specific concern over the plan to run powerlines from the Guri dam in Venezuela, though the rainforest (including Canaima national park) to Guyana and Brazil; the increased logging in the region; and the highway projects linking Manaus with Caracas and Georgetown (Guyana) with Boa Vista (Roraima, Brazil).

Leaders sent formal petitions to the presidents of Brazil, Guyana, and Venezuela and plan to continue meeting on an annual basis to discuss progress. The organizers hope that the message of the conference will be recognized; that Indigenous people are no longer willing to be exploited by their governments.

Suggested reading
  • The Lost Amazon: The Photographic Journey Of Richard Evans Schultes by Andrew Weil, Chris Murray, and Wade Davis
  • Light at the Edge of the World: A Journey Through the Realm of Vanishing Cultures by Wade Davis
  • Last Place on Earth by Mike Fay and Michael Nichols
  • One River: Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rain Forest by Wade Davis by Wade Davis



    • Continued: People of the Rainforest
    Unless otherwise specified, this article was written by Rhett A. Butler [Bibliographic citation for this page]

    Other resources

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